Somehow, the film that comes closest to my mind seeing this one, is Chaplin's last great performance in "Limelight". Somehow they are parallel cases. Both made these their last films as their final and definite masterpiece, not without sadness, perhaps more with grief than anything else, and what speaks oceans of feelings in this one is Hedy's eyes. After this film at only 44 she stepped back never to make another film, which puts her in a similar situation as Greta Garbo, who also stopped suddenly at her peak, but her last film was no masterpiece but rather her only shallow comedy. Still she retained her almost divine status for the rest of her life, and so did Hedy. But Hedy was a greater actress. As the nurse tells her in the end, "I always thought you were a better actress than the roles they gave you", and in this film she proves what a sovereign actress she was, in her pathetic awkwardness as desperately looking for love and friendship in her extreme loneliness as the greatest star, a difficult role to realize in believeability, while her humanity and urgent sincerity shines thorugh all the way, while actually everyone supports her, the handsome and sympathetic George Nader, the flimsy but almost equally pathetic Jane Powell, and all the others, which is not enough, for the great character she makes. The music by Hans Salter is also excellently suited, while you never heard of the director Harry Keller in any other film, (he mainly made westerns,) almost as if a director was unnecessary for this film that naturally had its own life from the beginning by its leading character. Although the dialog isn't much, it's a well written script anyway, for the realization of the triangle of a handsome second man in relationship with both the mother and the daughter without their being aware of it until later, gradually or by shock. It's an interesting chamber play in structure - and a marvellous film, all because of Hedy Lamarr making her last and final bow.
Review of The Female Animal
